Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex

Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex

1348 WordsFeb 17th, 20185 Pages

In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman’s character refutes Aristotle’s theory, as he is notorious for blinding himself from the truth which appears quite obvious to others around him. As a salesman throughout his life, Willy’s set his life’s goals on materialistic things and ultimately he does not achieve those goals. Distinctly opposite to Willy, Oedipus in the play Oedipus Rex enters life, as a nobleman who inherits his wealth. Although both characters experience a tragic collapse, Oedipus comes to the realization of the tragic event which ultimately leads to his downfall, while Willy never has a moment realization of either his downfall or the reason for it. Through the analysis of Aristotle’s theory of a tragic hero, it is revealed that Oedipus’ character models the characteristics of a tragic hero as well as undergoing anagnorisis, while Willy’s character fails to exemplify these qualities. As part of Aristotle’s theory, there are numerous qualities a character must embody to be regarded as a tragic hero. These qualities include: being born into nobility; agonised by a lapse in their decisions; experienced a downfall; and coming to the realization of personal accountability for their downfall. Aristotle’s theory initially appears to be expressed through both Willy and Oedipus, however with further examination; Oedipus appears to support the title of a tragic…

The Hamartia of Blindness in Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex
“Tragedy is an imitation not of men but of a life, an action…” (Aristotle). Tragedy is not about learning of certain characters, but rather learning about life itself. The inability to confront reality is a matter that takes place both in everyday life and in both plays. Despite the differences in both plays, Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex, the theme of being unable to confront reality is revealed through the protagonists’ shared…

Comparing the Tragedies of Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Death of a Salesman
The tragedies Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Death of a Salesman have strikingly different plots and characters; however, each play shares common elements in its resolution. The events in the plays’ closings derive from a tragic flaw possessed by the protagonist in each play. The downfall of each protagonist is caused by his inability to effectively cope with his tragic flaw. The various similarities in the closing…

not. Oedipus Rex, Othello, and Death of a Salesman are three tragic and relatively prominent plays, all written in different time periods, which can be examined comparatively with Aristotle’s philosophy of the tragic hero and may draw certain parallel to one another by means of dramatic irony.
Oedipus Rex, written in approx. 428 B.C., quite literally is the embodiment of Aristotle’s explanation of the tragic hero. It is also to be noted that Aristotle himself often exemplified Oedipus in his…

drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force, such as destiny, and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror. Two such examples of literary tragedies are “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles and “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. Although written over 2000 years apart, there are many similarities between the two literary works, but with varying degrees of differences as well. Some of the key areas to be examined when making this…

In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, there are many themes that are woven through the life of King Oedipus, and revealed through the key points of the plot. One of the most important themes is the inevitability of ones’ fate. Although fate is considered the usual genre of the Greeks in playwriting there, are specifics that Oedipus conducts unusual to our own way of thinking of a king during the Ancient Greek times. For example: Oedipus’s ignorance of believing what is said from his wife, Iocaste…

Oedipus’ evolution throughout the Theban plays is one with fascinating twists and turns. Oedipus’ characterisation evolves and changes as he experiences the fall from being the great ruler of Thebes into a blind beggar who is tortured by what he did. As the stories progress, so does their protagonist to the point where the Oedipus of the second play is a completely different man. In Oedipus Rex, the main character is portrayed as a strong and clever yet arrogant king whose ignorance leads him to…

In unit two of the semester, the class focused our attention on drama. As a class we read three very good play’s Oedipus the King, Death of a Salesman, and The Glass Menagerie. While all three of these plays were well written and had their share of both dynamic and static characters, the reader can’t help but notice that the mothers in all three plays were secondary to their male counterparts. The question posed is whether or not the mothers were nurturing, the answer was not easy to come by since…

Hamartia in Oedipus Rex and Death of a Salesman
Hamartia is defined as a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero. Aristotle defines a tragic hero to be a man “who is not completely good and just, whose misfortune is brought out not by vice or immorality, but by some error or weakness.” The three key requirements of Aristotle in regards to a tragic hero are; a high social standing, goodness or moral excellence, or error committed by the hero in unawareness or ignorance. Two quality examples…

goes an old saying, “All anyone asks for is a chance to work with pride.” Well, it seems that some people work with almost too much pride. In order to consider the extent to which pride applies to Sophocles' Oedipus The King and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, consider the following: Oedipus and Willy both take extreme pride in their professions, their pride blinds them from seeing the truth of their situations, and their pride ultimately leads to their own demise/downfall, all of these invoking…

theme, which will be discussed in the essay.
Oedipus the King opens in a Greek amphitheatre depicting the front of a Theban palace. Throughout the play, the setting remains constant. This changes to a more fast-paced play with different settings in different places in Death of a Salesman.
Dramatic irony in Oedipus the King is evident throughout, which is similar to the latter play, but in a different form. In here, the irony is evident. Oedipus the King revolves around characters' attempts to…